Journal · Guide · 10 September 2026 · 2 min read

How many hours of photography do you need for an elopement?

A plain guide to choosing between two and four hours of elopement photography in Melbourne, based on how your day moves.

Michelle and Dilan walk hand in hand through the long grass above Cains Bay, a green hill behind them.

For most elopements, two hours is enough. Four hours makes sense once the day has more than one place in it, or once getting ready is part of what you want to remember.

That is the short answer. The rest of this page is how to tell which one is yours.

What two hours holds

Two hours covers a ceremony and the portraits after it, in one place or in two that sit close together. A ceremony in the city with a walk through the gardens afterwards fits. So does a garden ceremony with a handful of guests, and time for the two of you once they have gone ahead to lunch.

The ceremony is the short part of the day. The portraits, the walk, the moment everyone relaxes: that is where the time goes, and two hours gives it room without anyone watching the clock.

Two hours is $690 and comes with 200 edited photographs.

When four hours is the better call

Four hours starts earlier. It means I am there while you get ready, and that is where many of the quiet photographs happen. A parent fixing a collar. The first time you see each other.

It also gives you room to move. Katie and Luke began with portraits at Oakwood Premier before their vows in Fitzroy Gardens. Sarah and Panos had portraits at Parliament House and Fitzroy Gardens before their ceremony at St Kilda Towers. A day that travels needs time for the travelling.

Katie and Luke outside the pink facade of the Fitzroy Gardens Conservatory.

Four hours is $1,090 and comes with 400 edited photographs.

The questions that decide it

How many places are you going to? One place fits in two hours. Two or more are easier in four.
Do you want getting ready photographed? If yes, book four.
Is there a meal or a toast you want kept? Add an hour for it, or book four.

Plan around the light

Photographs look their best in the hour or so before sunset, when the light is low and soft. If you can, set the portraits for then and build the rest of the day around them. It costs nothing.

Adding time on the day

If the day runs long, extra time is $200 an hour, as long as I don’t have another booking that day. There is no need to book more than you need in case.